Bad Social Media Behavior Can Ruin Your Job Search

Bad Social Media Behavior Can Ruin Your Job Search

Nearly two in five companies go to social-network sites to research job candidates.

If you think those wild photos of you and your friends from the last Cinco de Mayo aren't a big deal, you'd better think again: They could cost you a job. A significant percentage of job seekers are passed over because of inappropriate posts on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites, according to a CareerBuilder survey. There's a good chance your next would-be employer is doing social media research along with reading your resume. What should you do? Be careful about what you post – and what others post about you. "Because social media is a dominant form of communication today, you can learn a lot about a person by viewing their public online persona," says Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder. "If you choose to leave social media content public, filter out anything that can tarnish your professional reputation, and post communications, links and photos that portray you in the best possible light." More than 2,300 hiring managers and human resources professionals took part in the research.